Electric water heater for stock tanks



May 30, 1950 E. TRANSUE 2,509,460

ELECTRIC WATER HEATER FOR STOCK muxs Filed Nov. 3, 1948 INVENTOR;

ELMER/7Z25UE BY W ATTORNEY Patented May 30, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ELECTRIC WATER HEATER FOR STOCK TANKS 3 Claims.

This invention relates to electric water heaters for stock tanks, and the principal object of the invention is to provide an electrical heating unit which may be readily mounted within any conventional form of water tank, as used upon farms and ranches for warming the water therein to prevent same from freezing in cold weather, and also for rendering the water more palatable to the stock.

Another object of the invention is to provide a water tank heating unit of the kind referred to, the same comprisin a basal ballast box that is open at the upper side for the insertion of ballast such stone or gravel for holding the unit to the bottom of a tank of water, a water-tight case or housing mounted upon the basal ballast box, for containing and supporting the working elements of the unit, an electric lamp socket movably mounted upon guide pins extended longitudinally inward from the outer end of the said housing, means such as springs for resiliently urging the said socket rearwardly or outwardly upon the guide pins, water-proofed electric leads extended into the socket, a flared heatspreading hood extended inwardly of the tank from the inner end of the housing, a cone-shaped electric heat lamp mounted in the said lamp socket and projected out into the heatspreading hood and a water-tight partition and collar at the juncture of the housing and heat-spreading hood, the said collar freely encircling the cone-shaped heat-lamp and the latter being resiliently retracted against the collar by the said springs of the socket element, for preventing water seeping into the housing from the water tank.

With the stated objects in view, together with such additional objects and advantages as may appear from the specification, attention is now directed to the accompanying drawing as illustrating a preferred embodiment and structural features of the invention, and wherein Figure 1 is a front end elevation of the unit, as removed from the water tank;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal vertical section on the line 2-2 of Figure 1, the heat-lamp and ac cessories however being shown in full lines;

Figure 3 is a longitudinal horizontal section on the line 33 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a side elevational view on a re duced scale, showing the heating unit as mounted Within a Water tank of oblong construction;

Figure 5 is a top plan view on the same scale as Figure 4, showing the heating unit as mounted within a water tank of circular construction.

In practising this invention, I provide a basal ballast box 5, here shown as rectangular in form and closed at the bottom 5a, sides 5?), outer end 50, and inner end 5d. This inner end 5d is narrowed down vertically, the sides 57) being sloped down correspondingly to meet this end, and a concaved and flared cover plate 5 being fitted upon this end, the rear end of the ballast box being left open to enable ballast material 6, such as gravel or crushed rock, to be filled into the box, for a purpose later pointed out.

A cylindrical and water-tight case or housing 1 is mounted centrally upon the basal ballast box 5, the same being relatively narrow for providing lateral openings 8 at the upper side of the box for insertion of the ballast 6 thereinto. The case or housing 1 is closed at the bottom 1a, sides lb, top 1c, and outer end 1d. A flaring, funnel-shaped, heat-projecting hood is is extended forwardly from the inner end of the housing 1 and out over the inner flaring end of the ballast box 5, and an arcuate flange or bill if is extended horizontally forward from the upper side of the inner or forward end of the hood Te, as means for more effectively directing heat horizontally forward into the tank in manner later to be pointed out.

A pair of vertically spaced guide pins 9 are seated centrally in the outer end 111 of the housing '1 and are extended horizontally inward of the housing, these pins having heads 9a at their inner ends. A specially formed electric lamp socket member iii of insulation material is provided, this socket member being formed with an outstanding annular flange lBa at its outer end. This socket member It is slidably mounted upon the guide pins 9 by forming holes lllb through the flange lfla and passing the pins 9 therethrough in the process of assembling the elements. The socket element It is normally urged outwardly, towards the closed end 1d of the housing 1 by means of coil springs H seated over the pins 9 in the process of assembly and braced between the heads 9a of the pins and the flange Illa of the socket member [0. Water-proofed electrical conductors or lead-in wires 12 are entered into the member I0 in conventional manner, and except for the provision of the flange Illa, the socket member ID is of conventional construction. A conduit pipe I3 is seated at I311 into the outer end of the housing I, and the conductors I2 are extended out through this conduit to any source of electrical energy that may be conveniently provided (not here shown).

A conventional conical form of electrical heat lamp I4 is provided and is seated into the socket of the socket member Iii, the electrical energization of the lamp I4 thus being completed in usual manner.

The housing 1 is to be completely waterproofed on all sides, and accordingly a sealed partition I5 is provided, the same comprising centrally aperturcd and spaced walls of metal or other suitable material, and within the walls of which is compressed a similarly apertured gasket I 5a of rubber or other suitable resilient material. This partition I5 is firmly seated and sealed within the otherwise open inner end of the housing I at the point of connection or juncture with the funnel-like hood la. The heat lamp I4 is mounted in place in its socket of the socket member II], by passing the tapered, plug end of the lamp through the central apertures of the partition I5 and screwing the plug of the lamp into its socket in conventional manner. In the process of mounting the lamp I I in its socket, the socket member III is slid inwardly upon the pins 9, thus compressing the springs I I. Thus when the socket member I is released, the springs I I press the socket element outwardly nd draw the conical lamp I I up against the gasket I50, for providing a water-tight joint between the lamp and the partition I5, and effectively preventing water from entering the housing "I. In this operation the inner margins of the apertured rubber gaskets Ia, press resiliently upon the conical sides of the heat lamp I4, thus effectually sealing the housing I against entrance of water thereinto,

in the use of the device, as will now be explained. I

The water heating apparatus as described is mounted within any oblong stock watering tank IE (Figure 4) or circular tank (Figure 5) by merely seating one or more of the units within the tank and clamping the unit in position by means of a clamp I8 which is arranged to engage both a side of the tank and the lead-in conduit I3 of the heating apparatus. The ballast 6 in the box 5 holds the unit to the bottom of the tank. When the lamp I I is energized, heat is projected out into the water in the tank I6 and circulates therethrough in the manner indicated by the arrows in Figure 5.

The parts of the apparatus may, of course, be constructed of any desired and rust-resisting materials best suited for the purpose. Likewise, the dimensions of the units and the parts thereof may be varied as desired to meet the contingencies of varying situations.

It is thought that the construction, use and operation of the invention will be fully understood from the foregoing descriptiomand while I have here shown and described a specific form of the heating unit, it is understood that the same may be changed as desired, within the scope of the claims.

I claim:

1. A water tank heating unit of the kind referred to, the same comprising a basal ballast box that is open at the upper side for the insertion of ballast such as stone or gravel for holding the unit to the bottom of a tank of water, a water-tight case or housing mounted upon the basal ballast box, for containing and supporting the working elements of the unit, an electric lamp socket movably mounted upon guide pins extended longitudinally inward from the outer end of the said housing, means such as springs for resiliently urging the said socket rearwardly or outwardly upon the guide pins, water-proofed electric leads extended into the socket, a flared heat-spreading hood for extending inwardly of the tank from the inner end of the housing, a cone-shaped electric heat lamp mounted in the said lamp socket and projected out into the heat-spreading hood and a Watertight partition and collar at the juncture of the housing and heat-spreading hood, the said collar freely encircling the cone-shaped heat-lamp the latter being resiliently retracted against the collar by the said springs of the socket element, for preventing water seeping into the housing from the Water tank.

2. In a water heating apparatus of the kind described, for mounting in a stock watering tank, a water-proofed housing, an electrical socket mounted within the housing, electrical lead-in wires extended into the housing and operatively connected with the socket therein, an electrical heat lamp extended at its base through a side of the housing and seated in the electrical socket, the outer effective end of the heat lamp being extended outwardly of the housing and into the watering tank, means including an open topped ballast box and ballast therein for holding the housing to the bottom of the water tank when the latter is filled with water.

3. In an apparatus according to claim 2, means for releasably securing the housing to an end or side of the water tank.

ELMER TRANSUE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,117,277 Supplee Nov. 17, 1914 1,361,028 Drake Dec. 7, 1920 1,428,349 Whelan Sept. 5, 1922 1,723,743 Mason Aug. 6, 1929 2,432,918 McCaskell Dec. 16, 1947 

